The Get Together
by Rowan'G'Winterlace
Summary: Having to bring a Pureblood wizard who hasn't even seen a microwave or television to a Muggle family reunion is NOT easy. Especially when said wizard is as pigheaded, stubborn and tactless as Ronald Bilius Weasley. But calling on Harry for help leads to the rekindling of old feelings that Hermione thought she'd let die long ago...
1. Chapter 1

_This is a rewrite of a story written by BoneBasher255 who is no longer continuing it._

 _This is written with their permission, please give the original (and any other fics they write) a look x_

* * *

 **[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 1: The Dilemma

The Weasley/Granger flat that sat three storey's above the hum and buzz of the famous Diagon Alley contained only one young woman, Miss Hermione Granger.

Her perpetually frizzy brown hair (that now fell to her waist in a messy flow of curls and ringlets) was even more of a glorious mess with the constant tugging, twirling and ruffling of it that Hermione did with shaky hands. All of it

Unpacked cardboard boxes, marked with black marker written labels on the sides, and a multitude of dirty dishes buried the little kitchen table beneath it. And although the mess would usually send Hermione feral (the dishes in particular, because no way in hell would she leave such a mess), she was FAR too distracted by something far more important that had happened earlier.

A disaster really. Something the Brightest Witch of Her Age had absolutely no idea how to deal with.

It all started at her parent's house…

…

Back straight, eyes focused, and her wrist loose and moving gently back, forth, up and down. Her stature reminiscent of some kind of conductor, power and confidence (likely befitting one of the most powerful witches of her generation) rippling from her very being like waves of heat.

"You sure you REALLY want to move out, dear." A gruff voice at Hermione's back, the voice of her father, tugged at her concentration and caused her to pause what she was doing. Clothes, bedding and other knick knacks paused in the air as her warm eyes turned to the man in her doorway,

"Dad…" she sighed in the face of his… displeased expression. Not at her, she knew, nor was it even displeasure at having his little girl move out of their family home in general.

More at her current decision to move out and move in with her boyfriend… a man her father really did not have a positive opinion of.

"I know. You're a grown woman and I refuse to be someone who forces you to do something you don't want to." She smiled a little in the face of his father's gentle smile and sincere words. He ran a large hand through the slightly greying portions of his short brown hair, blue eyes hardening just a little as he continued on, "But, as your father, I still want to ensure that you are making a sensible decision. Particularly with who you are moving in with."  
"Ron's a good man, dad. And he loves me." Hermione folded her arms and fixed her father with a severe glance, "I don't understand what more you could want."

Her look became harsher at the… unimpressed curling of the lip that came from her declaration that Ronald Bilius Weasley was a good man. She loved her father but could not help but feel a flame of

"I… don't doubt that he is a good lad. The… things you've told your mother and I about the adventures you and that Harry boy got up to during your time at school." He was being genuine, thus his daughters ire was soothed somewhat, "I just…"

"What do you doubt then, dad?" Hermione huffed out a tiny bit, "What? Do you doubt that he l-"

"Hermione, honey, can you come down, please? We need to talk." Hermione's mother cut off her daughter's question before it could been concluded. The young woman in question pursed her lips at her father moved back from the doorway and Hermione shook her head at the apologetic look of the man who'd birthed her,

"Yeah mum, one sec." She called as she walked out of the room into the warm corridor of the household. She lowered her things to the floor of her room with a gentle movement of her wand, "I'll clean it up in a bit. And I will be talking to you about this later, dad."

Her old man sighed, defeated really and making Hermione just a little bit concerned and a little guilty feeling at her frosty demeanour towards him. Though those feelings were washed away by a warmth in her chest as she was engulfed in a large hug,

"I'm sorry, dear. I just want what's best for you." He murmured into her hair after pressing a kiss into the top of her head. Hermione's own arms encircling her father as she sighed herself,

"I know."

When she was released, she headed downstairs (taking two at a time) and she hunted her diminutive mother down. Finding her mumbling to herself as she surveyed some stack of papers, that her daughter assumed were related to her parent's dentist practice, and smiled a little as her mother looked up and gave her the same loving smile that she had given her every day of her life. She swooped in and pecked her mum on the cheek and noted that her coffee cup was empty,

"Another one?"  
"If you don't mind, hun."

A few minutes of mindless chatter and Hermione was sat across from her mother at the kitchen table and wondering why the lady looked so uncomfortable,

"Mum, is everything okay?"

She tapped her fingers in a clearly anxious gesture as she hummed to herself as she clearly worked to

"So… Hermione." The addressed straightened immediately at the use of her name. Something she was very rarely called by the pair who had given her said name in the first place. Hence the thought that 'this was serious' reverberating through her skull, "Of course you know we have our annual… family get together…"

"Huh? Erm… of course…" Hermione nodded slowly, brow furrowed questioningly in the face of her mother's continued anxiousness,

"Well, you see… you remember your cousins Ella and Mia, right? The twins?"

It took Hermione a moment to think back to the family members in general. Memories of mean words, pulled hair and nasty pranks accompanied by high, shrill and obnoxious laughter.

The memories came rushing back in and she scowled despite herself,

"Erm, yes. I do." The young witch had to take a moment to center herself and find some sort of calm thought to stop her from spewing vitriol at the little girls she remembered.

"They made some… remarks about you not having a boyfriend. Ahem, or about you ever finding a partner." The only comfort here was that Hermione's own fury was matched with what was displayed on her mothers face, "So… I hope you can understand but I got rather angry. And, well, I told them of course about Ronald. You two are still dating, right?"

Hermione numbly nodded, anger still bubbling under her skin despite herself,

"Ah, erm. I don't mind that you told them, if that's the issue?" Her inquiry soft and still a little confused. Though an uncomfortable feeling settled on her shoulders when her mother silently shook her head,

"They laughed honey, and you… you know how I get."

The uncomfortable feeling morphed into one of slowly dawning horror,

"Mum… wh-what did you do?" She shuddered at the clear worry on her mother's face. As if she was scared of what her reaction would be to her next statement,

"I… may have…" She gave up on trying to hedge things and took a deep draw from her coffee mug and evidently decided she'd be blunt and direct, "I told them you'd bring him to the get together."

A pin drop could have been heard. The birds out in the garden stopped singing, the whir of the washing machine halted and any kind of noise seemed to cease as Hermione processed what she said…

Then a million and one emotions ballooned in Hermione's chest as her body flushed out its heat and she immediately felt cold,

"M-MUM! H-How could you?!" She was left to bellow at her repentant looking mother as she slowly tried to come to terms with the complete travesty that had been dropped in her lap…

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

* * *

 _A short little project I want to work on whilst I've hit a little slump while working on Define Normal._

 _Thanks again to BoneBasher255 for being so cool about letting me use their idea AND getting back to me so quickly. Hope you guys enjoyed and are okay with me continuing!_


	2. Chapter 2

_This is a rewrite of a story written by BoneBasher255 who is no longer continuing it._

 _This is written with their permission, please give the original (and any other fics they write) a look x_

* * *

 **[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 2: The Proposal

A scowl marred Hermione's face as the memory of her mother's admission ran its course in her head.

"I can't believe her." She sighed as her eyes flicked to the clock and noted the time as she waited. Waited for Ron to get home so she could break the bad news.

The front door flew open and knocked a few guilty thoughts right out of her head as Hermione jumped with fright,

"I'm back!" An overly cheery shout rocked through their little shoebox apartment. Ron making his presence known at a volume that Hermione assumed could be heard from space,

"Kitchen."

He was stumbling, Hermione able to hear it in the short hallway that headed from their front door. Though she allowed a small smile to bloom on her face as a familiar head of fiery orange hair and bright eyes popped into the room. A glorious grin on his dimple and freckle filled face that warmed Hermione a little inside and allowed her a momentary reprieve from her thoughts,

"Hey babes." His greeting, preceding a sloppy kiss on her cheekbone that had her giggling before she pushed away his face.

"Don't be gross, Ron." She snickered,

"Yeah yeah!" he rolled his eyes and grinned without an ounce of regret, "So, what's the problem? I got that message and rushed right over."

Hermione's brow furrowed a little at that. She'd sent that message about twenty minutes ago and she couldn't help but doubt the sincerity of that claim, especially when her nose was picking up the familiar scent of liquor from under the heady scent of his aftershave,

"Have you been drinking again?" She inquired and bristled a little as his arms (which had been hugging her around her waist) slinked away and he scowled and rolled his eyes,

"I swear Hermione, if you called me home just to lecture me again."

"HEY! I, 1. Don't like how you get when you drink, you have no self-control. And 2. I do have something I need to talk to you about." She snapped in return and scowled a little at his brief sneer, "Whatever Ron, do whatever you want. But, again, I… do have something to tell you."

His sour expression was quick to slip away in the face of his girlfriends fidgeting and very guarded demeanour,

"You're not… pregnant, are you?" He whispered the 'p' word with a look of abject terror. Something that was quickly mirrored on the woman's face,

"Wha- no! Of course not! How could I be, Ron?" Her expression morphed from its timidity to a look of ridicule that lit Ron's ears up a bright crimson and left a slimy feeling in his stomach and chest, "You're not an idiot Ron, you know how children are made."  
She huffed, and Ron huffed a little himself (dark thoughts at the idea that he and Hermione still weren't particularly intimate running in his mind) before he shook his head and muttered out an apology,

"So, what is it?" His tone was a little harsh and froze Hermione as she sighed and took a minute to formulate her sentences,

"I… We've been invited to a family get together on Saturday."  
The both of them stood in an awkward silence at the declaration before Ron replied with a sharp, almost angry, look.  
"I'm not going."  
"Y-Yes you are, Ron." Hermione was firm, but so was her boyfriend,

"Like hell I am, Hermione. Your family hates me."  
"No they-"

"YES, they do Hermione. Your dad has NOTHING nice to say about me and your mum just sits around and makes me feel like an idiot. Why do you think I want to

"Y-You… Ron, wha- you realise that you really didn't leave a good first impression, right?"  
"W-WHAT?!"  
"Oh grow up, Ronald. You completely messed up at that family dinner, you even admitted it. And you never took the time to rectify it. You've just been avoiding them ever since." Hermione snapped in the face of her beloved's fury, "You've made up excuses not to see them for over a year Ron, and I'm sick of having to explain away your absence and embarrass myself every time I go to see my mum and dad."

"Well… if I'm such and embarrassment-"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, unless you die at some point between now and the weekend, then you are taking your bony self to my parents house for this get together!" Hermione roared, whatever little defiance he still possessed vanished in the face of his girlfriend's rage. Ron visibly flinching away from the shorter woman and physically quaking in his boots.

"A… O-Okay Hermione. I'll go."

She sighed, relief rushing through her whilst Ron was still oh so stiff and uncomfortable,

"Come here." She sighed, opening her arms and accepting him into a hug, "Thanks Ron."  
"Y-Yeah." He murmured into her hair,

"But understand, if you bail on me you won't just be facing me, but my mum and dad. And you won't be able to hide behind Harry to save you." She growled into his chest as she hugged him, feeling him stiffen further and she couldn't help but sigh again, "I'm sorry."  
"Whatever." He pulled away and scowled, he busied himself with cleaning up some stuff in the kitchen and started on the dishes with a flick of his wand. Hermione shook her head and took the boxes she'd taken from home earlier to her room.

"What are you planning to wear?" It was about half an hour after their initial spat that Hermione slinked back into the kitchen, standing in the doorway and pretending that she didn't see the bottle of Firewhiskey peeking out of the top of a brown paper bag on their cleared kitchen table,  
"Huh?"  
"You know you can't wear your robes, right?" Hermione leaned on the door frame, just feeling drained from such a long day, "My family are Muggles, Ron. It would raise too many questions."  
"Well forgive me, Hermione. But _**I**_ happen to be a wizard, so I don't exactly have any Muggle clothes."

"Don't be a drama queen, Ronald." Hermione sneered, her lingering feelings of guilt and upset for her argument with Ron fading in the face of her irritation, "Just go and ask Harry for some."  
She didn't care that Ron suddenly didn't look too pleased, nor did she give a damn about the vitriol he was building up to as his face burned crimson,  
"I don't have time for this Ron. Swallow your pride and ask Harry for some clothes, tell him it's informal."

She slammed the front door behind her and left Ron seething in their apartment, just deciding that she'd go and do something to get her mind off of the awful day she'd had so far.

* * *

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

 _Thanks: delia cerrano and NeroAlmia for the nice Reviews x_

 _I hope all of you liked this chapter, see you soon._


	3. Chapter 3

_This is a rewrite of a story written by BoneBasher255 who is no longer continuing it._

 _This is written with their permission, please give the original (and any other fics they write) a look x_

* * *

 **[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 3: The Meeting

 _-Harry Potter's house is at Number 12 Grimmauld Place-_

Ron Weasley watched the house in question push itself into existence from between number eleven and thirteen from his place on the pavement. The man scuffing the toe of his dark shoes on the darker pavement as he swallowed an increasingly reluctant sigh as his motivation for even being here had tanked to the extreme.

The old Victorian style townhouse, standing an extra storey higher than all of the other buildings on the street, stared down on the young Weasley as he sighed once more before he approached the small steps leading to the porch of number twelve. His fist hovering before the front door before,

 **KNOCK KNOCK**. Two firm smacks of his balled fist on the dark, wooden door.

Ron heard movement immediately, the scuffling of tiny feet and an intelligible call from a familiar voice with some childlike giggles that followed it. Beside himself, Ron smiled a little, that smile still present when the door flew open,

"Hullo!" A little voice that pulled Ron's attention down to a child who barely came up to his knee, "Ah! Wotcher Uncle Ron!"

Tiny, kind of expected from a six year old (in the face of a man over six feet) really, dark hair and bright, watery blue eyes that were just so big and wide and filled with euphoria,

"Heh, hey squirt." Ron greeted a little dark-haired child, said hair morphing to a glorious, fire orange to match his own, "You doing okay?"  
"Yup." He chirped and the man's attention turned to a tired snicker from behind him,

"Teddy, wanna move so Ron can come in."

He was tall and still quite incredibly slim as he'd always been, though the post-Voldermort years had allowed him to take a bit better care of himself and showed in the shine and colour that showed on his skin. The dark bags under sharp, soul-piercing emeralds (behind circle glasses) were gone and the eyes just glittered warmly with nary a trace of his darkness and depression from his younger years,

"Hey mate, we were expecting you a little sooner." Harry Potter greeted Ron with a grin,

"Huh?"  
"Hermione sent me a message before she sent you over." Harry hummed out his response and gestured for the man to follow after turning back into the house and ushering Teddy back inside, "Just come in mate, I'll grab you your clothes."

Ron and Harry were led along to the kitchen, passed the blank space of wall where Walburga Black used to hang, by a running, babbling toddler as Harry smiled along lovingly and Ron just stuffing his hands in his pockets with a sour expression slowly settling onto his face.

' _I hate this place.'_ Ron looked about, the ancestral home of the Black family decorated in its dark colours and lavish carpets and ornaments. He remembered the long days before fifth year and then after the war to clear out this place, and all that irritation he'd left , _'Typical fate, letting The Boy Who Lived gets set up for life whilst everyone else who helped him along are either dead or struggling along like normal people.'_

"Hey Ron!" A call, the man's attention returning to the real world by its volume and the yanking of small hands on the leg of his trousers, "You okay, mate?"

"Ah, yeah mate. Sorry, what did you say?"

"Just wanted to know if you wanted a drink or anything?"

"Heh, you don't have any Firewhiskey on ya, do you?"

Harry's brow furrowed in scrutiny and his voice turned knife sharp,

"Even if I did, mate, I wouldn't be letting you drink in front of my child." Harry turned and with a click of his fingers the kettle whirled to life on the counter top and he decreed, "I'll get you some tea, Ron."

"Keep an eye on Teddy for me, kay?" Five minutes later and some very stilted chit chat (that Teddy really led with his discussions about his time at day care) later and Harry silently had enough. He slipped out of his seat and moved to the door to get on with what he had let the man in for.

"Mione said 'informal', right?" A call not a minute later,

"Erm, it was in-something…" Ron murmured a little as he responded, and he flushed a little at the ears at a small chuckle and a few quiet mutterings he heard from the stairs as Harry came back down. The redhead glared a little until Harry came back into view with a pair of dark trousers and smart button up shirt,

"Try on these." He hurled them to him, Ron rose to his feet and snatched them out of the air, "We're not really the same size but I can adjust them after you put em on."

"Huh, really?"

"Yeah, the Prophet has some household spells in some of the columns on weekends." A little laugh passed through the former Boy-Who-Lived's lips before he sneered out the rest of his words, "I suppose it's the only good that can come out of that rag."

Ronald laughed out alongside his friend, though he was quick to inform his friend that they weren't on the same page at all…

"Those are women spells, Harry." He smirked and his tone was more than a little scathing,

Harry said nothing for a minute. He held Ron's gaze for a solid few seconds before he blinked and spoke just a little slower than usual,

"They are USEFUL spells, Ron. I'm raising a metamorphmagus. One who, very recently, learned he can change his size." Harry's tone was gentle, like that of an adult slowly explaining something to a child. Instinctively, Ron picked up on this and flushed a little at the correctly perceived reprimand and almost looked ready to make a scene.

But, on cue,

"AH! Uncle Ron, look! Look!" Teddy giggled a bit as he hopped of the chair up at the kitchen table and pulled the men's attention to him.

The boy grew about half a foot then shrunk back down once or twice for his captive audience,

"Oh, that's pretty cool, squirt." Ron's face split into a small smile as he was distracted,  
"Please knock it off, Teddy. I love you but I hate having to cast spells on you every five seconds." Harry's voice was tired, but his smile was both indulgent and adoring, the boy in question grinning impishly even as he nodded his assent.

The pair, Ron and Harry, found themselves leaving Teddy in the kitchen a little later and they made their way to the door. Despite some little talk about Quidditch and Ron's work at WWW's the two still felt the bad blood even now. Yet Harry still felt the harsh stabbing of guilt as he steadied himself to say what he needed to say now as he slipped the clothes he was giving to Ron into a small bag,

"Look, Ron. Don't let Hermione down again, alright?" He sighed out, suppressing a wince at his long-time friend's double take and the big breath he took for the imminent, angry response,

"Hey-"

"No mate just listen. I'm not going to bail you out if you mess up this time." Harry firmly decreed, arms folded, and his expression hardened, "Go to the get together and be on your best behaviour. You've not left a good impression on her parents, so this is your opportunity to fix things."

"How would you even know that? You haven't even-" Ron was very much fuelled by ire and incredulity before he very abruptly stopped, and something clicked in his head. His next words delivered in a growl of fury, "Hermione put you up to this, didn't she?"

Harry didn't blink at the accusatory tone,

"No. But what she did do was tell me that you don't want to go and asked me to check if you actually would." He firmly snapped back and glowered, "I'm sick of having to put the pieces of your relationship back together every time you make Hermione cry."

Predictably, Ron yelled. Red faced and hurling obscenities and curses. He even went so far to take a step up to Harry and shove a hand into his pocket for his wand.

Then he found himself on the Boy Who Lived's doorstep with his voice gone via a Silencing Charm. And the red head roared wordlessly before he Apparated away in a rage, leaving Harry to look on through the door's peephole with a long, tired look.

…

"Uncle Ron was looking at you funny." Teddy hummed out after dinner time several hours later.

"Hmm? Really?" Harry looked over from the sink with the barest of surprise. The boy nodded quite vigorously before taking another sip of his juice,

"He looked angry."

"Hmm." The only reply he could really formulate in the face of his child, "I think Ron's just a bit tired at the minute. You don't need to worry, pup."

Teddy's eyes transitioned to a deep blue and Harry flicked his gaze to his little one and smiled a little sadly at the boy's visible sign of distress. So he, with a flick of his wrist, summoned and gestured his wand at the boy and fired off a light Tickling Charm.

Musical laughter filled Number 12 in the wake of an awkward and harsh earlier day.

* * *

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

 _Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed this one._

 _And thank you very much for the reviews, follows and favourites thus far x_


	4. Chapter 4

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 4: The Issue

 _Wind whistled under and past the window panes they rattled, echoing shrilly throughout the multi-story town house the Black family called their own. A storm swirled outside as Harry silently read on the floor outside of Teddy's room, barely flinching as the rain swirled and splattered outside and failing to look at the brief flashes of white and the sharp thunderclaps that accompanied them. It was the first storm of such a severity that he had witnessed since Teddy's birth and he was worried that the tot wouldn't sleep through the night, thus the uncomfortable camp outside of his room as he read a journal on Dark Magic on the floor._

 _The noise and his split focus, listening out for the whining of a child rather than the ringing of a doorbell, meant that he barely registered the arrival of his guest until a little voice in his head wondered how long the doorbell had been ringing._

 _He lunged to his feet and replaced the book in his hand with his wand, gripping it tightly as his heartrate increased somewhat,_

' _Who is that?' Cautiously stepping down the stairs to the front door, peeking through the peephole of the door with his wand tip glowing red in preparation before tearing the door open after an eye widening reveal._

" _H-Hermione?! What are you doing here?" He screeched, green eyes finding the hooded brown of his wet and incredibly bedraggled best friend, a rumble of thunder in the face of the young woman stood with seemingly nothing but the clothes on her back._

" _S-Sorry, I j-just need-"_

" _Get in here." He pulled her inside. She was shivering, soaked to the bone and monumentally pale, a familiar moleskin bog clutched in white shaking knuckles._

 _She was issued a shower, a change of clothes that hung off of her and a cup of tea when she rejected food._

" _We got into a fight." Her voice was small, pink lips blowing away the steam softly as she stared off into space,_

" _I… it's stupid. He just brought about half a dozen cases of Firewhisky and I just… I-"_

" _Didn't approve?" He clearly suggested as he put himself in the chair opposite him. The yellowish light of the dim Grimmauld Place kitchen casting odd shadows in the corners of the room and across the dark table.  
"I just don't understand why he drinks SO MUCH." She exclaimed her last pair of words with an exasperated desperation that caused a twinge in Harry's heart as it was then succeeded by an utterly dejected expression, "He kept saying that I'm a nag, I don't let him do anything, I'm always making him feel stupid!"_

 _She wasn't shouting, but there was a steady heat entering her voice as she ranted for a few seconds longer, falling quiet when she ran out of breath and was left to gasp just a little harshly and sniffle from across a pained but speechless Potter._

" _He said he hates me..." She blubbered and fell into a bout of sobs and Harry silently moved around the kitchen table to the seat next to her. It was awkward, but her head rested on his chest and she buried her wet face into his chest._

 _A cup of tea became several cups of wine, and Harry spent the next few hours chasing the few moments where the girl next to him would bless him with a few_

 _A few soft songs came on over the Wireless (an item neither of them turned on and Kreacher refused to be summoned for questioning), leading to a few little twirls across the kitchen tiles and some side-splitting laughter at the others truly atrocious dance moves at the faster songs._

 _Then a slow dance just became an embrace. The hug was damp but warm; the two of them melding together like corresponding puzzle pieces with soft satisfactory sighs and even warmer feelings within at their union._

 _He told her to go to bed shortly into it and Hermione muttered into his shoulder (her face having found itself there almost immediately and nuzzled in deep for far longer than either of them should have allowed) how he was acting like her Dad._

 _And Hermione was sent upstairs with the ghost of a smile and a little chuckle when she was mockingly ordered to call him 'Daddy'._

 _The night was long, but Teddy slept through it. Leaving Harry to sit awake in the corridor worrying after his guest and dozing off after the sun peaked over the city skyline._

 _Ron arrived at nine thirty a.m. truly, at the worst possible time…_

 _As Hermione was coming downstairs in the shirt and shorts she had borrowed from the Boy Who Lived for sleepwear. Stopping on the staircase behind Harry with a deer in the headlights expression that did absolutely no one ANY favors._

" _Ron-"_

 _A wand was drawn, Harry disarmed him before he could even think of a spell. Ron left to stumble_

" _You bitch!"  
"She just stayed the night, we didn't do anything."  
"Liar. You've always-"_

" _Had to be there for Hermione every time you break her heart, prat." Ron's shouts were interrupted by the sub-audible hiss. Stopping him short like a hammer blow, "Nothing happened, you can ask her if you don't believe me."  
"Ron." That was all Hermione could manage when Harry stepped aside, the two looking over one another with a heavily pained expression before Ron spun on his heels and stormed off down the street, "RON!"_

 _Harry just handed her boyfriends wand to her and, with a few swishes of his wand and soft slew of incantations, had Hermione's things bagged up and floating down the stairs to her. A nonverbal instruction to leave was mirrored y the furious red head who had turned back and glared at her,_

" _Hermione, you coming?!" A surprising roar from halfway down the road, Ron having crossed the street and glaring at the two nigh-murderously. Hermione shrunk away from that look a little, though a familiar look of indignant fury flashed across her face intermittently (unknowingly making her friend feel a little smug in an ugly sort of way),_

" _Harry- I-" She stammered, clearly thinking too much to focus on whatever she wanted to say. Harry just shook his head and nudged her bag of things over to her._

" _Go on Hermione, he's not going to listen to me." Harry shrugged, stunning the brunette in his perceived nonchalant demeanor, watching her scurry out with her overnight bag after her boyfriend with a single-minded determination._

 _Ron glared Harry's way, red faced and absolutely vibrating in vehemence a second prior to bed head and furious Granger descended on him with the wrath of a deity._

 _Harry just closed the door._

…

Harry returned to reality without ceremony. Sat upright in one of the stuffy old armchairs in the living room and unleashed a yawn like a lion's roar and rubbing sleep from his eyes before shaking away the sleep.

A steaming cup of tea appeared on the coffee table in front of him with the sound of a finger click echoing around the small room,

"Thanks, Kreacher." He called softly, enjoying the beverage silently as he reminisced on old times a little more.

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**


	5. Chapter 5

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 5: The Envy

How do you live a life knowing that you really peaked in high school? Saving the world is a REALLY hard act to follow…

Ron Weasley stalked around the dingy kitchen of his and Hermione's flat,

Visibly, on the sofa in the other room that Ron's eyes fell onto with a half-glare every moment, were the clothes Ron had borrowed from his friend. They sat so innocently on that ugly green thing he'd been given by his parents as a move in present, not knowing that the twitches of the wand in between Ron's fingers were an indication of the man's restraint.

Ron just wanted to shred them or set them on fire.

He was often left to sneer at all the attention Harry still got. The man is a recluse! In the years after the war he literally never left that dingy house unless it was Auror related. And even when he quit it was to go study or when he (VERY RARELY) went out with Teddy.

But should he come to the pub, end up at an event or stumble in front of a Prophet reporter and BOOM! It's as if Merlin had come back to life.

Truly, in a way that he immediately noted as petty and ridiculous, he couldn't fathom how Harry's part in Voldemort's defeat was THAT big of a deal.

' _It's not like he did it alone! We were all there too!'_ Himself and Hermione. Neville and Luna. Ginny and so many others. He just couldn't see how it was Harry who got all that unlimited praise? Even from them!

Granted, in those silent moments in the flat or the Burrow, when the smell, sights and sounds of the final battle were too much and he was forced to awaken, he was able to acknowledge that he could never have faced You Know Who. Not like Harry had.

It was years on, he had stood over the snake-faced-man's corpse and he STILL could not dare to utter his name, not even in his own mind.

How could Harry have taunted him? Spat both it and his birth name at him with such venom, with that Malfoy-tier sneer ripping up his lips.

It wasn't jealousy. He promised himself and he whispered it to the back of his estranged friend. He just didn't compare.

He whispered it to the clothes on the sofa, the hissing kettle, the flickering light above his head.

Two hours later and his head was pounding. The kitchen was still dark and he was nursing a second bottle of mead as the crisp, dirty air of the city wafted past the thin, ratty curtains. Harsh drags of the golden liquor did absolutely nothing to appease the nasty thoughts rattling through his head, the thoughts that left those slimy serpents writing in his stomach and whispering those vicious, jealous words in his ears.

The words that made it hard to even look at Harry. Harry! His best friend since they were both eleven, who'd done everything to stand by him, who'd saved him and his family so many times.

Ron Weasley LOVED Harry Potter. He was- he IS his brother. Someone who, regardless of his mood swings, his temper, his occasional lack of tact, ALWAYS had his back.

Should they talk about the Horcrux hunt, forever Harry glossed over how he left,

" _I was done for. I thought the Locket was really going to drag me down there and I'd drown. Then, bam! Ron hauled me out of the water and destroyed it."_ That was the most conservative way he documented his return to the Horcrux hunt. Missing out how he'd disappeared and singing his praises with such earnest, sincerity and pride that his stomach would turn, and he would fight the urge to walk away from wherever he and his best friend were.

He was far beyond groggy when he staggered to the bedroom and collapsed into the hard mattress (' _just like Hermione likes it'_ ) and fell swiftly into oblivion.

…

 _The bell rang above the green door of the florists and indicated to a few of the very few distracted patrons of the entry of the two red robed Aurors. They turned to look away and left the entering duo to do their thing mostly unobserved._

 _The duo being the reed thin and freckly Ronald Weasley and the green eyed, bespectacled Harry Potter. The prior with a bit of a spring in his step and a smug little grin lifting up the corners of his lips, whilst the latter looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here,_

" _Right!" The red head nodded to himself as he looked about with a determined look, "Roses and chocolates. Every girl wants those!"_

 _Ron's grin was triumphant, and he radiated an air of smugness,_

" _Sure Ron. So why do you need me here for this?"_

" _What do you mean? You're my best friend, just be here and support me, mate." He grinned over his shoulder, but it faltered a little at the eye roll he received and his little tired half-smile._

 _The scrawny, square jawed clerk with his humongous moustache greeted them with a bored expression and a thick Russian accent. Ron was quick to explain his issue and make his requests,_

" _Basically, my girlfriend and I had a spat, so I'm trying to get her to forgive me..." He was met with a sagely nod from the man and the two spoke a little before he slipped into a back area whilst Ron leaned on the counter. Another look back at the man he came in with left him with a frown,_

" _Hey Harry, what's wrong?" He was quick to ask, and he was met with a weak, tired smile,  
"Nothing Ron, sorry. Just a bit tired mate."_

" _No. Don't be like that, Harry. I'm not dealing with you being bloody snippy and passive aggressive. What the hell's your problem?!"_

 _His volume raised as he spoke his last sentence and turned the few eyes in the store to them, Harry looked about to the sudden awe filled and intrigued stares that fell upon him with a resigned look he could barely choke down before he offered the classic 'public relations' smile. Ron looked about and winced, a guilty feeling settling in his chest and stomach that propelled him to turn back to his friend and mutter a,_

" _Sorry."_

" _Whatever." A growl not missing a beat, smiling a little warmer as a kid scurried up with some wrinkled black and white picture he'd procured from his pocket._

 _It was a few minutes before quiet came and the two has slipped off to the edge of the counter where they were a bit harder to see,_

" _But still, what's going on?" Ron now able to pick up where they left off with a pleading edge in his words, "Look, I get I'm not some kind of big ladies' man, but I'm trying Harry. Work with me!"_

" _Roses and chocolates are not something she's gonna want Ron, I just… I feel like at this point… you should know this by now."_

 _Ron bristled a little and Harry did not miss it, thus offering some apologies and assistance, but,_

" _What do you mean?! Are you saying that I don't pay attention to Hermione or something?" Silence, Harry flinched himself and his hesitation (before he quickly and quietly backpedalling) answered for Ron and his face heated up, "You're one to talk Harry, especially with how you are with Ginny!"_

 _Harry's jaw snapped shut and the two just stood. Ron visibly seething until he registered the intense fury in those emerald eyes, thusly reminding him that his best friend had entered multiple duels to the death with the fiercest Dark Lord of all time and walked away each and every time,_

" _What?" A single word, flat harsh and cold, leaving Ron to back up on sheer instinct, "You know what Ron, let me give you a free bit of advice about the alleged 'love of your life'. A wonderful, beautiful woman who you just love to show that you don't deserve."_

 _He took a few harsh breaths and concerned Ron with how visibly furious he seemed. Eyes alight with rage and his body physically shaking as he balled up his fists down by his pockets,_

" _Ron, she doesn't eat chocolates, does she?" Harry hissed a little nastily at his friend, seething a little as his friend looked on in surprise, "Come on Ron, we've known her since we were eleven, when have you ever seen her eat chocolate? How many times have you seen her reject literally anything with sugar in it?"_

 _Ron… his head went blank. He tried to think but couldn't. Mind trying to go back to what Hermione liked to eat and leading to the ever so tactful,_

" _I… I guess I never noticed?"_

 _The pause between them felt like it lasted for a century. Ron left to avoid eye contact of a Harry whose body shook as he pinched the bridge of his nose,_

" _That's my issue." Harry finally sighed out, pushing out a second sigh through pursed lips and breezing past his friend to the exit with a dark look on his face, "Sugar quills, Ron. They do sugar-free ones at Honeydukes. Get her those and a few sunflowers."_

" _Wha- where are you going?!" Ron wa stunned he was able to blurt out the question even as he was frozen in place, leading to Harry to stop at the end of the aisle before turning back to reply,_

" _You are a selfish, self-centred prat, but you're a little right. Ginny and I aren't doing too great. So, I have my own relationship to take care of, Ron." Harry sneered and shook his head. Ron (only in reminiscence) noticed the hurt look in his eyes before he shook his head and glared at him all over again, "I can't be bothered to run yours too."_

 _The ring of the bell over the door sliced through Ron almost as brutally as the slamming of the door behind Harry stomping away._

…

Awake. The stench of the mead flooding his nose with every breath and his entire body felt cold. He was quick to shrug off the clothes he'd slept in, numbly slip under the covers and shiver in the warmth as he fell asleep once again.

"Sorry Harry." He muttered with a bit of a groan, words he wished he could just say to his friend…

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

* * *

 _Read a lot of reviews about 'Ron Bashing' in the previous chapters and think it's fair but I do want to say that Bashing is not my intention._

 _Ron's in a bad place and his relationship with Hermione and Harry is struggling because of it, and it is something I wanted to brush on just a little here and going forward._

 _If you don't want to continue reading because of this interpretation, or don't think I'm doing it very well, PLEASE let me know. Fanfiction is something I use to learn about my style and how it is interpreted and read._

 _Thank you for the lovely reviews and interest in this story, have a good day/night._


	6. Chapter 6

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 6: The Wistfulness

Friday came with a sun that blinded and a muggy air that fell across the city, the red head unperturbed by the heat those around her were clearly suffering from. The beauty of cooling charms.

POP! A bubble of gum that stuck a little to the redhead's cherry lips. Tongue took a while to scoop it back up as she approached a familiar dark pub nestled between two far more inviting buildings

POP! A bigger one this time, weaving between the same dank, sweaty and grubby crowds of the Leaky Cauldron. The legendary pub just as damp and dim as the first Ginny Weasley had been pulled through it, strolling by and ignoring the faces of awe, fascination, respect.

POP! The last bubble before she cast it away, the taste gone and the act of blowing bubbles no longer as entertaining. Her wand flashed, hitting the all too familiar pattern of bricks that opened the passage with a low rumble and scrape, leaving Ginny to slip out into the crowd that mostly parted as she marched through.

She didn't stop for autographs, she didn't fake a smile. She wasn't like Harry.

She couldn't fake it like he could…

The wonder of Diagon Alley, the sights sounds and crowds. More than a few kids and teens of Hogwarts milling about in the early summer, with and without parents as they enjoyed their time out of the castle. It made her feel such a firm feeling of elation at how… free the Alley looked. Memories of the burnt out stores and the sparse crowds darting around with their heads down only fading now in the face of its polar opposite.

She allowed herself the briefest of little smiles as she passed by her big brothers shop. Despite the twinge of pain at the reminder of Fred, her smile not faltering as she imagined George and Ron buzzing away in there. Offering a faux salute to the big animatronic above the shop offering its own tip of the top hat.

She smiled and waved at a few familiar faces, stopped for some brief conversation here and there and made oh so slow progress to her destination. Incident Alley, the lighter, snootier off shoot of Knockturn Alley.

She'd literally only ever gone there for work. All strained smiles and weathering the judgemental glares for a poor girl in a rich witch's world.

The perks of that startling shade of her hair is that no one would ever mistake her as anything other a Weasley. The famously 'just scraping by' wizarding family that everyone had an opinion on. Not even the war could change that. Not even fame and fortune (for her at least) was changing anyone's preconceptions of her. Wizarding Britain didn't see Ginny, they saw Weasley. And Weasley's have no business in Incident Alley outside of earning a Galleon, so she hated it.

Okay, that was a lie, she had been there outside of work. She didn't like it down there, but she'd learned why with the person who hated it just as much as her. The same man walking out of there with a familiar dark haired woman from their school years, creepily trying to cling to a guy who very clearly was trying to be anywhere but with her.

Harry Potter and Cho Chang. Sweet Morgana the image of those two, 'together again' (as Witches Weekly had smugly stated in an article a few months earlier) made her blood boil.

She glared, glared at the woman rather than the man. Somehow, even with how things were and how things had ended, she wouldn't blame Harry for getting with another lady. Granted, it was partially because she had no right to…

Though, it is likely because she recognised that look in his eyes, a look that had broken her heart whenever she would see it:

 _Her heartbeat still beat harshly in her ears whilst her body still worked off the after effects of her very recent… euphoria._

 _Harry was already up with his back to her, sat upright with his legs hanging off the bed. Looking to his back she briefly felt a little satisfaction at the long, raised, red lines that were dragged down his back._

 _He looked over his shoulder at her, a little smile already on his lips and just… wrapped in those warm sheets on that soft mattress and pillows, just all warm and safe under that sweet, emerald gaze._

 _Ginny had never felt so loved as she did in that moment in their dark bedroom._

 _Though-_

" _Erm, did you?" A squeak, a soft question she felt stupid for asking. She would know if he'd… but that wasn't why she'd asked.  
He kissed her, a little smile on his lips before she pulled back and gave her that look. A look that told her that she was the most precious thing on the planet, but the pain present behind his eyes answered more questions than the one she was too embarrassed to complete._

So, she allowed herself just a little bit of a smirk and trotted away a little satisfied.

Satisfied knowing that her former lover still wasn't.

He caught her eye, he paused but then offered a little smile and wave, Cho caught where his eyes fell and scowled, so of course she blew Harry a kiss with her wave before skipping off. Rushing off to where she needed to be and somewhat gleefully noting how the woman turned on him instantly with a furious gaze.

She was walking a little less cheerfully when she got to her first stop, a simple shop. A general, bright-lit grocery and what nots to pick up a sandwich before popping into the 'office' for a few hours.

Something hit her. Light, bright and nothing more than a simple nuisance. It was a flying paper plane, hovering before lunging to poke her in the temple once more leaving her to scowl and snatch it out of the air and unfolded it.

' _I'll get you for that.'_ No signature, none needed. So, she sent Harry back the plane with a reply to meet later in the day, understanding immediately why the Ministry were so enamoured by them when she got a positive response within minutes.

She had a few meetings for the day (heading out of the general shop with her early lunch) before she could meet up with Harry for a bit. One of which, unfortunately, with the man who had ruined her and Harry's love life, courtesy of her vindictive editor.

Then she was meeting Hermione Granger afterwards, the other reason her relationship had collapsed…

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

* * *

Hi again, thanks to: Tyler'sPrincess, Naya Snake, George Cristian810 and Q. Elwyn.D for the reviews and feedback on Chapter 5. And thanks for all the reviews on the story thus far. They've been helpful and supportive and I'm grateful for them.

See you next chapter and I hope you enjoyed.


	7. Chapter 7

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 7: The Angry Encounters

The warm, muggy scent of their activities was not truly combatted by the cool air from the open window and the sweet scent of Cho's reapplied perfume.

Harry was focussed on tying his shoes over the half-naked woman at his back, though he allowed himself the distraction when she leaned her bareback against him and reclined into him,

"Knut for your thoughts?"  
"You think they're that cheap?"

Pink lips curved up as she flicked long black hair at him,

"Why?" he playfully whined and swatted at her, smirking more himself as she fled and chuckled,

"Why not, Mr Potter? Maybe I just want your undivided attention…" A sultry smile present on her face when he turned to see her.

It took them another hour and a half to check out…

Harry settled the 'small' tab they had incurred in their evening at the hotel, one they frequented (as the concierge teasingly reminded them of) whenever they ended up 'running in to one another'.

Outside, Cho stood leaning on one of the thin lampposts on either side of Incident Alley, tapping a foot on the cobbles and swinging her arms with a thoughtful gaze into the bright sky and a little smile across her pink lips,

"Heh, you seem pleased." Harry smirked as he sidled up alongside her, that smirk deepening as she straightened up a little before leaning into his side,

"Well… I had a pretty good evening, and the day's not been too bad to me so far." The same sultry tone that had brought him back to bed leading Harry into a chuckle, he looped her arm around her waist and left a kiss on her forehead,

"You're cute." His smile infectious, though her smirk did briefly falter. Harry picked up on it and was told not to worry, instead being roped into a conversation on Quidditch as they made their way back to Diagon Alley proper.

Looking back, it was difficult to pinpoint the time where their few one or two evenings became an unofficial 'thing' Cho refused to let Harry name. A year ago? Two? It was fairly soon after Ginny moved out, but as it was a purely physical relationship that really just happened once or twice a month with little conversation even between them.

Hence the two's stilted conversation as they moved through the sunny street, weaving between the near midday crowds,

"What are you doing for the rest of the day then?" Cho broached the subject after their conversation dried up,

"Not much really, just some shopping. Teddy's birthday's in a few weeks and I'm getting him some last minute stuff." He beamed, missing the truly affectionate look that settled on her face as he spoke, "Not everyday your little munchkin turns seven. Really got to thank you again for that tip about the Prophet by the way, was sick of having to buy new clothes every few weeks for the brat."

Cho giggled and shook her head, giving him a sharp swat for the endearing insult towards the child,

"No problem, I'm just surprised you actually learned to use them. Not many guys learn those spells." She hummed out, folding hands behind her back now as the crowd became thicker around them,

"Tch, Ron made a comment like that the other day."

"It wasn't an insult." Quick to comment and Harry just as fast to reply,

"Ah, sorry. I didn't take it as one. Sorry bout that."

However, it all changed when they moved back into the alley and Harry's eyes fell immediately on an intimately familiar shade of orange, the waist length hair of Ginerva Weasley.

He offered a little wave and smile, despite the weird feeling that gripped his stomach at the sight of her and received a… blown kiss.

Cho turned on him…

' _Shit.'_

"Erm, what was that?"  
"I- I don't know!"  
"Why are you going to lie to me about this? I've just seen her you-"

"Hey! Stop! I've literally just told you the truth." He snapped at her angrily, a hot feeling of anger rising in him as she fumed before him,

"Pfft, you know she's interviewing that Cannons player at the Prophet today. You know the one, Darius Sharkey right?" Her face morphing into a venomous sneer that had Harry glaring even more hatefully at her as she meandered through her passive aggressive snarky words, "You know the one right, the one she was getting railed by before you guys broke up?"

Restraint. It was a wonderful thing. Because if Harry didn't have it (unfortunately conditioned to keep his anger to himself from years in his childhood) he would have likely slapped her so hard her face would have smeared across the cobbles,

"So… of all the things that are happening right now. You're making out as if I'm cheating on you and, the few times we actually talk, it's about my ex-girlfriend's affair." Harry rolled his at her and looked down his nose at the also glaring, smaller lady, "You wonder why you're still single?"

"Oh, so sorry Harry. You're making out as if we talk to one another at all, you selfish bastard." Her voice raised and a small (steadily growing) crowd shamelessly forming around this disaster in progress, "If you weren't just using me to get your rocks off whenever you feel like it, maybe this wouldn't be talked about you pig."

' _Oh… this bitch.'_

"I'm fairly certain that you're constantly telling me that you want me to talk less. Or stop talking altogether, like you said last night." His voice raised to match hers, "Making out as if every time we meet it isn't your idea and suggestion for us to 'go somewhere quiet'."

Perhaps he would have flirted with her then, a part of him wanted to, but a bout of irritation ran through him as he spoke leading to his words coming out a lot more severely than originally intended. Leading her to flush and stiffen just a little,

"Whatever Harry, you're a joke." She huffed, noting that a few of the people in the immediate semi-circle around them were giving her less than complimentary looks, so she(quite visibly) switched tactics. An air of smugness radiating off of her like a stoves heat as she spoke again, "Besides, there's a guy at the office whose been giving me looks. Cute, attentive, a lot like you were before your head got stuck up your own ass."

Harry bristled but he bit back vitriol in the face of her immediate satisfaction, refusing to allow her to get a rise out of him. Especially out here where EVERYONE could see,

"Well. Guess you don't need me anymore. Wishing you too luck then." And he smiled, a big bright smile that he doubted even Ron or Hermione would call ingenuine; using that comment as valediction to precede a hasty exit.

She was left momentarily speechless before she started storming after him (a few others, unfortunately, following her with great interest),

"Hey, w-wait! Are you telling me you're not even a little-"

"Bothered? No. You made it clear from day one that this wasn't love or a relationship Cho. And I said if that's what you wanted it wasn't happening." He turned back, crossed his arms and pushed back his own hyper awareness of all the people milling around, staring and pointing. He rolled his eyes, shook his head and gave the woman a scowl akin to the late Potions master of Hogwarts, "I wish you the best, but I'm not standing around and listening to you whine about who I am and am not talking to besides you."

"So, you ARE talking with her!"

"No, but maybe I will now! Gin's always been less of a pain than you."

A far from classy exit, accompanied by her hurling obscenities and Harry just walking away faster and faster before ducking into Gringotts and away from the travesty he left behind him. Heartbeat beating so fast and his whole body heating up in embarrassment.

He blamed the redhead lady but not much, so he jokingly sent her a note flying and decided to get some business sorted in the bank as a way to forget how quickly this morning had spiralled.

' _Hope that isn't some preamble to shit day…'_

…

The nigh-spectral images of his deep brown eyes and winning yet knowing smile haunted Ginny as she stiffy stormed out of the office, allowing her cordial, staff grin to melt from her face now that she was no longer: "The face of the Prophet" and no longer had to really worry about representing the company.

She checked her watch, 5:17pm blinking back at her from the Muggle digital watch. One of the many wonderous gifts from her father now that all he had to do these days was tinker with Muggle machinery and figure out ways to have it work around magic.

Granted it was one of few successes but a success it was!

Her train of thought returning to the present with the thought that she had got off late and was leaving Hermione waiting. She rolled her eyes and made a quick march back up the Alley to the Cauldron, once again cursing everyone in the building she had just vacated for ruining her life.

Prim, pristine and punctual as ever, Hermione sat straight backed

"Sorry I'm late, work ran long."

"Oh, it's not a problem, I only just got here."

Ginny snickered, and Hermione looked a little sheepish,

"You really are a terrible liar, Herm's." She smirked as she underlined her drink choice on the menu with the tip of her wand, rewarded with a nod and genial wave from Tom the barkeep that made her smile a little.

Blithe and meaningless chit chat would follow,

"It's just a small function, a few of my Elf friendly motions have made it onto the desks of a few Wizagmot members now. Hopefully the fundraiser will bring more eyes to the movement."

"And if not, the cash you'd get would probably grease the wheels a little…" She smirked over the rim of the drink she'd just received with a joking lilt to her voice. Clearly a joke.

But, a bit predictably (as Ginny immediately thought as it occurred), she had a little affronted look on her face and quietly hissed about how she shouldn't even joke about that,

"I'm not like the Death Eaters, or those sort before the war. I'm not going to use money to just get what I want, I'm doing things properly Ginny." A lovely extract from the closing point of her lecture, "Honestly Gin, even the insinuation could get me in trouble. Why would you even say that? Do you think I'm the type who'd bribe officials or something?!"

"Of course you're not Hermione, I'm aware of that." She just… sighed, Ginny almost wishing (as she did somewhat often these days when with her) that she was drinking something a little stronger. Her demeanour change noticed by a still somewhat miffed Hermione, "And don't call me Gin, you know I don't like it."

"Is that sarcasm?" Hermione's voice holding a definitive note of hurt and a little betrayal that almost had Ginny throwing her hands up to the ceiling,

"NO! Merlin's balls, why are you even-" She snapped her mouth closed hard, nearly biting off her own tongue as she cut off any and all insults or aggression she had poised of the tip of her tongue. Her expression was thunderous for a moment, lips pursed closed before she unleashed another explosive sigh and hit Hermione with an uncomfortably direct stare,

"Hermione, what do you want?" Blunt and flat, delivered with a clipped voice,  
"I- Huh?" The woman in question just stammered so Ginny pushed along,

"You never talk to me unless you've got a problem with the boys. Who is it this time? Harry or Ron?" She allowed her unimpressed glare to rest on her face as she allowed herself a long slow sip of her drink.

If she had thought about it a little longer, she'd have known it wasn't entirely true. They met up with friends often (considering both of their busy work schedules) and were often at the Burrow for a Sunday roast, but,

"You never want to meet 'just me' unless you've upset Harry, or you're upset with Ron. What happened this time?"

"Ah…"

She flushed and just, froze. Ginny gave her a solid sixty seconds before she (in a move she immediately regretted) necked her drink and rolled to her feet,

"Well, whatever then Herms. I've got other places to be." Her tone bored and just done with the conversation,

"Wh-Where are you going?"

"I'm actually meeting Harry at Tiana's in a bit, so I think I'll just head over."

The look that flashed across her face, brown eyes widening in what was… fear? It was such a quick expression that the Brightest Witch of her Age squashed down near immediately,

"Are you two…" She, the lovely Miss Granger, clearly wasn't happy at the idea of her and Harry… and it left her furious.

So, she didn't answer. She just waved and left her flabbergasted at a table, likely trying to fight her feelings on the idea of her getting back together with her ex-boyfriend.

"Have a good night, Hermione." She snippily shot back at her, twisted on her heels and strolled off.

Leaving her all the angrier.

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

* * *

 _This story has gotten quit a bit more popular than I thought it would, thank you guys for reading and I'm glad you guys like it thus far._

 _Thanks again Tyler'sPrincess for Reviewing again, hope this met your expectations and I hope everyone liked this chapter guys.  
_

 _See you again x_


	8. Chapter 8

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 8: The Leftovers

 _-Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley live at 12 Grimmauld Place-_

 _His house, he gets to be the Secret Keeper, Ginny understood that. However, it still made it a little annoying coming and going every day. Especially coming back so late._

 _She cringed. The nasty taste and feel of bile in the back of her throat and mouth, guilt (like a bag of writhing worms) making its presence known in her stomach and all under her skin._

 _She didn't remember walking there, but she found herself at the door of the kitchen. Harry sat at the table working away under the yellow lights,_

" _You're back." He kind of hummed, looking up at her tiredly. Gesturing to the pots on the hob with a flippant hand before speaking again, "Ted's in bed, you hungry?"_

 _He sounded… broken. It made her pause in the doorway and truly look at her Harry for the first time in a while._

 _Ever since their… talk… things had been obviously tense and tough. But they'd still decided on making things work, still decided that they cared for one another enough to stay together. Even if the love they held for one another wasn't exactly equivalent._

 _Yet here, Harry sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by parchment and books from (what she assumed to be) another one of his long Defense Against the Dark Arts projects, she felt that something had truly changed. Yet, she felt that it hadn't changed today, something had changed long before this humid evening and she was only noticing it now, standing in the doorway of their perpetually dim and dingy kitchen._

" _S-Sorry, where you waiting for me to get back?"  
"I was a little worried, but you were with your team, right? I knew you were in safe hands."_

 _No knowing look, no passive aggressive tone. Merlin, if she didn't just KNOW she could have just chalked it away to some horrendous kind of disinterest._

" _I'm… sorry for worrying you."  
"It's no prob- don't worry about it." Harry rolled back his shoulders, audible clicks and pops almost echoing in the otherwise silent room, and rose to his feet. The scrape of the chairs legs on the tiles set her teeth on edge and she warily watched his wand as it flicked through the air and sorted his work into much neater piles._

" _You're mad."_

" _I'm not. Not at you anyway." He grunted, shrugging and fixing her with those pretty yet oh so tired eyes, "I did a half day at university. So, me and your dad spent the afternoon getting the TV and DVD player to work in the living room, so we could watch that film we missed. You know, when you had 'extra training'?"_

 _Still no accusation, yet Ginny couldn't keep that violent twinge of guilt that tore through her body from causing her face to twist and to break eye contact. No doubt that if Harry wasn't suspicious back then he was now,_

 _"I just, just wanted to be with you tonight. We barely have much time around one another these days." Harry started up again, his voice heavy with fatigue. An awkward pause settled in and Ginny's calloused hands scrunched up her satin skirt even further. A colossal sigh from Harry made her jump and her hazel eyes shot up to see him scratching the back of his head and stifling a yawn with the other hand._

 _"I'm just tired now, Gin. Food's there if you want it. I'm glad you're back home safe." Came his final, tired addition to the conversation before he turned and walked into the hall. Heading towards the stairs and their bedroom, his tired and slowly retreating form not alleviating her feelings in the slightest._

 _The guilt formed became a heavy weight on her shoulders, making her feel as if she was going to sink through the floor at any second. Or be crushed flatter than paper on the kitchen slabs,_

 _"I've been having an affair!" Exploded past Ginny's lips. Harry stopping on the second step with his hand grasping the banister._

 _"Yeah, I know." He said, his tone resigned and still so exhausted._

 _He continued upwards as if she hadn't spoken, hurting Ginny in a way she had never thought her beloved capable. She had never wanted him to be angry at her at all, not in her life, but now she would have begged on her knees for even an angry glare. To not be shut out so completely when he was only a few feet away._

…

It wasn't dusty, dark Grimmauld Place from near three years ago, it was the bright early evening on Diagon Alley. It wasn't Holyhead Harpies Chaser, Ginerva Weasley, she was a sports columnist for the Prophet these days. Left sitting at a popular café standing where Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour used to be,

"Hey Gin!"

It always baffled her how happy Harry could be to see her, rushing to her with a myriad of cloth bags in one hand whilst the other waved enthusiastically at her,

She was halfway out of her seat before she was scooped up into his arms, reflexively relaxing into his hold and pulling him into to a hug as well,

"Hey Harry."

Seating, drink and food orders, all done with conversation that Ginny was doing her best to not sound stilted. The two meandering through talking about their day's whilst blatantly leaving out bits and bobs the other certainly didn't want to hear about.

It upset them both a little bit, though Ginny wasn't aware that their mutual lack of transparency effected Harry just the same way.

They'd been friends before they'd given it the old 'together forever' attempt, why COULDN'T they just… talk. Pick nice, safe, neutral conversation like their work, Quidditch, dumb people they ran into,

"Any idea why Hermione would want to meet with me today?" Ginny transitioned into, at odds with their previous little rant about the Ministry,  
"Huh?"  
 _'Ooh! Bravo Ginny, bring up Hermione. REALLY safe subject.'_  
Fortunately, he didn't seem too fazed by the sudden interrogative and hummed a bit to himself as his fingers tapped away at the rim of his mug,

"Dunno really. She may have wanted to talk to you about Ron. She's got a family reunion tomorrow afternoon and she was worried that Ron might not turn up." A new grin settled on his face, a lovely mix of sheepish and pained, "She asked me to talk to him, but you know how weird he is around me these days."

"The perks of previously dating your best friend's sister." She murmured into her latte, he heard her and snickered a bit,

"Was always going to end in tears." He whispered and (thanks to expert acting on Ginny's part) was left completely unaware of how much that comment had hurt.

She was given another attempt at picking a 'safe' or 'neutral' topic, but she was never able to pick anything other than the stupid choice, apparently,

"So…"

"What's up?"  
 _'Bad idea, Gin. Really REALLY-'_

"You and Cho? Still together?"

An immediate change of expression, mildly curious to heavily irritated,  
"We're not, Gin." He sighed, rolling his eyes and draining half of the scalding black coffee before him without so much as a wince. She was quick to backtrack (despite the heavy sigh of relief at the, once again, confirmation that he was just with Cho for the sex),

"I don't mean anything by it. You know I of all people am not going to judge-"

"We had sex and that was it, Gin. Is that what you want to hear?"

' _Yep.'_

"Look… I'm, erm, I'm just happy we're talking again, okay?" Ginny muttered, "I just… it's still a bit…"

"But do we need to talk about this?" It was the most tired sounding whine imaginable, succeeded by the former Boy Who Lived inhaling the largest draught of coffee possible and quickly showcasing an expression of regret. Unbidden, Ginny giggled.

"Sorry for making it awkward."

"Can we just forget about it, I don't want this to be every conversation we have? I love that we can still just talk and be friends, you know?"

"Of course!" A little too quickly, beginning to babble on about whatever she knew he wanted to hear,

' _Of course not.'_ She softly allowed herself as she cast little glances over the rim of her coffee mug at his goofy little half-grins and the way his emerald eyes danced like little balls of fire.

And sighed.

' _I can see why Herm's wants you so bad more and more, even if she's still pretending she's in love with Ron.'_ Her self-loathing and bitter thoughts accompanied by another swig, _'But I'm a little glad that she hasn't found out about you yet.'_

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

* * *

 _Got this done a lot quicker than anticipated, hope you enjoyed this and last chapter. Have a good night/day x_

 _And thanks for all the Favourites, Follows and over 5,000 views thus far x_


	9. Chapter 9

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 9: The Ladies Parents

The front garden of the Granger household was just as remarkably well-kept as ever. Pristine little flowerbeds stuffed with teensy yellow and purple in rigid rows up and down. A thin path of faded slabs, pink and grey and snaking up to the front door like a snail trail.

The front door, an acrylic/plastic/whatever (if he were honest, he didn't remember what the material was) door made to look like wood. It was very much the most intimidating thing he'd faced.

It went without saying that he would rather be at the pub, or at work than here. But he'd rather face that acromantula nest all over again.

Forget You Know Who, HE was more terrifying than he could have ever been (Harry wasn't going to save him from the girlfriend's father).

He knocked on the door weakly, barely audible enough for the residents to hear.

It didn't take long for the door to open and he was face-to-face with Dan Granger FAR sooner than he ever wanted to be.

Six-foot dead, burly and gruff. The same shade of brown in hair and eyes as his daughter and very much looked like the former soldier that Ron knew him to be, glaring down his nose at him from the doorway,

"Huh, surprised you're here. Especially this early."

"H-Hello sir, I erm, just wanted to be here on time." He gulped, harshly aware of the lack greeting but steeling himself in the face of the slightly taller man, "I know this is important to Hermione, so I wouldn't dream of missing this."

Hope briefly filled him, a hope that he'd finally said or done something right. Finally done something that would make the man wouldn't be upset with him…

Nope.

"Fine, now you can help us set up." He huffed and rolled his head round in a gesture to go behind the house, "Run round and help with the tables, and be quick about it!"

His orders gruff, transitioning to a shout as Ron didn't immediately get out of his sight, as his pursed lips, flared nostrils and narrowed brown eyes silently ordered him to. The red head jumped, let out a high and involuntary squeak and he nodded quickly before running off.

The large, suburban garden had a myriad of plastic tables on the well kept lawn with more flowerbeds and a greenhouse (with vines of tomato's visible even from the gate off to the house's side as he entered).

"Ah, erm, good morning!"  
The only person in the garden jumped. A woman with dark, nearly black hair (that was just as long and incredibly frizzy as her daughter) visibly jumped at Ron's sudden greeting and twirled around brandishing the tablecloth in her hand,

"Oh, Jesus, it's just _you_." Emma Granger placed a hand over her blatantly racing heart and briefly threw Ron a far more vicious glare than he thought he deserved, "Good afternoon, Ronald. It is good to see you so early, is Hermione here?"

He allowed himself a weak smile at her strained attempt at being cordial,

"Ah, erm no. She is sorting some last minute things at work and will be here later. I came to help out." A stretch of the truth (well… more of an outright lie) but she didn't visibly catch on, "Erm, Mr Granger said I help with the tables."

He had to be honest, Ron preferred Hermione's mother over her father. She, as she had just showcased, wasn't particularly kind but she wasn't one to be unjustly mean or jump down his throat about everything.

"Yes, you can take those tables," Her dainty hand jerked to a few flat packed tables stacked against a wall to her left, "and put them up down there. No dilly-dallying now!"

She twisted away from him immediately after her instructions and made no effort to continue speaking, nor acknowledge his existence.

So, all in all, Hermione's parents hated him. And in all honesty, Ron's feelings were about the same.

"Yeah sure."

Stilted conversation only began when the tables were put up (in just the way she liked it) and ordered to do other things,

"So… how is your work going? You are an Auror, correct? A sort of… police officer?"

He missed the brief, knowing look that crossed over her face. Instead focussed on the grimy, sinking feeling in his stomach and chest before he awkwardly spoke again,

"Erm, actually I- err. I stopped being an Auror about a year ago. I work in my brothers joke shop." He scratched the back of his neck as the top of his ears flushed a little before casting a look away from the task in hand and to who he was speaking.

Merlin, he HATED the look he got. How dare she! It was a look that was both unsurprised and smug,

"Hmm, that's a shame." A flippant reply as she turned away to focus on straightening a tablecloth,

"It erm, just, wasn't for me." Quick and a little hot in his reply, nearly snapping his response at the woman but a brief flash of her husband in the kitchen window near killed his words in his throat.

"Forgive me, I'm just surprised. I'd have thought you and that Harry would have stayed together after all that happened in the war."

…anger rose up in him again.

"He quit the corps before I did!" He was a little _too_ excited spitting that out, a wash of guilt running under his skin even as he continued, "He, erm, he picked another career too after about a year of being a Captain."

"Oh?" She pursed her lips a little thoughtfully, "Why was that? From what Hermione told us, that was his dream job, right?"

The slightly guilty feeling that rose in him from that question was (for once, recently) nothing to do with him,

"He, erm, wanted to spend some more time with his girlfriend at the time, and he wanted to pursue his passion." He hummed out and was surprised at how quick she jumped on it,  
"That Quidditch thing, right? Hermione used to tell us how good he was at the game, how fantastic for him."  
"Ah, no. He went into teaching. He's in his last year for a mastery or something."  
"A teacher? Oooh! I remember Hermione writing to use about that Army thing he ran in her fifth year-" He drowned her out, her words becoming a constant murmur as he worked on those tables, set up tablecloths, cutlery etc. and silently lamented how long a day this was going to be…

…

"Hello?!"

Hermione's voice, rippling through the house like a siren song to Ron's ears. He'd been here for hours, ordered about on task to task before being told to just… sit and wait. Left to feel like a child in time out as he was left in their snug little living room, surrounded by pictures and jumping at all the noises.

"Hermione!"  
"Ah! Ron? You came!?" Everything was almost worth it, just to see her surprise transition to delight as she popped into the room and quickly threw herself at him. That familiar, bone breaking, hug and the face full of frizzy brown.

But the emotions (ones that warmed him throughout) flooded out of him like water down a sink when her parents popped up as well. Visibly reacting in the negative, until he was no longer touching their daughter and they got their hugs and her away from him. His role in conversation was scant, as he was pushed to the side of whatever room they moved their talks to.

Thus, that particular buzzkill (on top of the morning thus far and just not wanting to be there) was what turned him to the cooler full of muggle beers that opened when the first guests arrived…

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

* * *

 _Thanks again Tyler'sPrincess for the review and the support, and thanks Glimmande Solsken for the review also. I hope everyone liked this chapter and see you guys next time._


	10. Chapter 10

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 10: The Assembly

 _A subdued family restaurant, families with children, the occasional teen couple and (like the one consisting of the Granger's and Ronald Weasley) a few families without children._

 _However, the gentle atmosphere of the evening in the gentle décor of the establishment was being disturbed more and more by the voices being raised from a table off to the side of the restaurant,_

" _I-I think your boyfriend may have had a little too much to drink, dear." A shaky smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. The tone of Mrs Granger's voice desperate in her attempt to appease,_

" _Perhaps it would be best if you got him home." Not a question nor a suggestion, the words delivered a bit curtly as Mr Granger piggybacked off of the previous statement of his wife. Both stood up on their side of the table, looking at the red stain that was inching closer and closer to them from the tipped over glass. On the other side of the table, Hermione was also on her feet and very clearly lost for words, whilst her boyfriend was sat (half-slumped) over the table with a loopy grin on his face._

 _Far be it from him (at this point anyway) to back down or take the out he was given; Ron snorted loudly as he slurred and staggered into his, a bit too loud, declaration,_

" _Heh, hic, a nag and a buzzkill! Can see where you get it from, Hermione." He descended into a fit of giggles in the face of the offended Granger trio. "Hehehe, whole families no fun."  
He unleashed a ripple of hiccups and shook himself, almost like a dog, _

" _Guess it can't be helped. Marrying in to a family of stuck up Muggles." There was the ghost of a derisive sneer on Ron's face as hazy, unfocused eyes tried to lock onto the more than unimpressed faces of Dan and Emma. The inebriated ginger uncomprehending of this, as well as the man snickered, "Merlin, don't know why dad likes you…"_

" _If you think I'm going to let my little girl marry such a-"_

" _Dan." A desperate plea from wife to husband as Emma Granger physically restrained her husband from stepping around the table and wailing on the younger, drunker man. Said man, however, seemed all sorts of unimpressed, hand itching towards the pockets of his jeans as his girlfriend watched on in horror._

 _SLAP!_

" _Go home Ronald." She hissed as the whole room went deathly silent and all eyes (including Ron's)_

" _Wh-What the-"_

 _She didn't slap him this time. The blow she threw was a haymaker to the jaw that had him flung to the floor,_

" _Go. Home." She snarled, vicious anger barely pushed back by her desperate attempt to compose herself, "We'll talk later."_

…

Dan Granger returned to reality with a sip of his drink, sighing as his eyes flicked onto the only red head in the building. That disaster that was on his mind, being the first time he'd actually MET the man his daughter had just…

Dan just seethed a little and his eyes met his wife's from across the room, having a small chat with his own mother. She met his gaze, followed his where his eyes fell (to young Mr Weasley helping himself to a beer) and immediately had the same thoughts that he did.

He wanted to step in, but she just smirked knowingly and shook her head. The disaster was telegraphed from the moment his beady, hazel eyes fell on the cooler in the garden. And Emma Granger was ready and willing to let it play out.

Lord he HATED this man, Ronald Weasley.

It may seem petty, but even if the school and his own daughter had forgiven him for nearly getting her killed over a decade prior, he hadn't. Even if his daughter (and the wizards and witches of their world) had forgiven him for abandoning her whilst she was fleeing for her life trying to bring down an evil, magical dictator, he did not.

Yet, somehow, this was not why he really despised the _BRAT_ his daughter had fallen for.

…

Hermione tapped her fingernails against the glass bottle of cola in her hands.

The house was crowding up now. Her second cousin Ryan, with silver present throughout his formerly short black, was trying to start conversation with Ron in the back garden. His wife, Allison, was straightening out the grass stained skirt of their bright eyed toddler off to the side.

Her parents in conversation with her olive tanned grandparents in the kitchen window, doing that awkward dance around where (even to this day) the parents do not approve of their child's spouse. Hermione had never understood why his grandparents disliked her father, though they were cordial to him and were hyper-loving of her. So, she had never broached the subject.

Another subject she had never broached was her parents own distain towards Ron.

She was neither oblivious, nor stupid. She very much recognised that same distaste that Granny Pauline and Des had for her father in the eyes of the man himself (and her mother) whenever they talked about him. Which is one of the many reasons she understood why he didn't want to be here, why would you want to be around people who openly disliked you, right?

But, at the same time, this is her family and Hermione refused to have the people she loved unable to be together in one room. Even if it may cause some friction,

' _Smartest witch of her age.'_ Echoed in her head she took a sip, scoffing just a little as she disapprovingly looked over at her Ronald, already on a second beer when Hermione could have sworn he'd only just been on the first.

A cold feeling settled across her spine like a cool blanket and she immediately made to act on her red flags. Ron lost what little filter existed between his brain and mouth with the ingestion of alcohol and this was the last place where any of that needed to happen. So, she made a move, stepping out of the back door and near-speed walking over to him to get him to put the beer down.

"My my, is that my sweet little niece over there!" But she was intercepted. Auntie Melly with her warm smile and ankle length frizz was barrelling towards her, her shorter husband Yancy trying to tame the overly excited woman, "Oh god how big my baby girl's getting!"

She was sufficiently side tracked by the two (pleasantly so, mind you, for Hermione truly loved most of her family) and her boyfriends alcoholism fell by the wayside in her own mind. So, she unfortunately left him to his own devices far longer than she should have ever allowed.

And that was what would set up the rest of the event, as well as their relationship.

...

It took about hour and a half after the first guest arrived before Dan and Jane decided that all their guests (the guests that were actually coming) were here. So, he called them all into the garden and made to address his extended family,

"Hello everyone and thank you for coming to this year's Granger family reunion." Dan Granger greeted the lot of them with a genuine grin. He had a bit of a back and forth with his brother-in-law as Jane's sister, Donna (all brown curls and flat face) and her bratty twins gave his daughter and her boyfriend curious side long glances, reminding Dan of something he had to address,

"I would like to give a welcome to a new man who has come to this year's reunion, Ron Weasley, who is Hermione's boyfriend." Dan announced, speaking the last part darkly, "Let's have a nice night everyone!"

Eyes fell on the man who'd been announced, teetering just a little on the spot with

who shrunk quite uncomfortably from some of the most incredulous looks he'd ever received (not seeing those same looks directed at his girlfriend also) and thus took a larger swig from his bottle than he had previously and offered a lopsided grin and shaky wave to the Granger clan.

Question after question followed. How did you meet? How long have you been together?

Basic questions, kind of weird to think about how he'd never really been asked. In this moment he recognised how many knew the details of his, Hermione's (and Harry by extension) lives were known by the public.

It was their eyes, openly appraising him and coming away… wanting. Little looks, small smirks boiling Ron's blood in his veins and causing him to drain more and more of the vile tasting beers and ale provided by the Granger family (ignoring the voice in his head that snapped at him not to, cause it was empirically a bad idea).

Ron already had a short fuse and, unsurprisingly, when he was drunk it was even shorter.

So, when a small kid accidentally ran into him, predictably, he lit up like a firework…

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

* * *

 _Sorry for not having Ron make a scene this chapter, hope you're looking forward to it though._

 _Thank you for all the support yet again, see you guys next chapter._

 _And with this, I have officially caught up to where BoneBasher255 left it off. Thanks again to the dude for letting me adopt this one._


	11. Chapter 11

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 11: The Interruption

Tiny, shortly cropped brown hair, couldn't have been any older than eight or nine. Bumping into Ron's side, and making him stagger a bit, simply because he wasn't paying much attention. Ron spilled a bit of his drink down his chin and chest at the sudden jolt and was, understandably annoyed.

However,

"Watch where you're going you fucking brat!" He bellowed at the child, a boy who was already aghast and quickly apologising in a soft voice and bumping the kid back with a jerk of his hips was far from appropriate.

The situation was not helped with how the child fell onto his backside in front of the angry, and clearly drunk, stranger to the close knit family.

Silence.

A calm before a storm.

"What are you all staring at?!"

"How DARE you!" Yancy snarled as he stormed over, but Hermione's aunt was the one who closed the distance first,

"Don't talk to my son that way, who do you think you are?!" She roared, long frizzy curls bouncing as she stood near nose-to-nose to the man,  
"Bitch, the reason your son is still alive is because of me." He flippantly growled, quite literally palming her off by pushing her face away from his with his whole hand. Either ignorant or uncaring of the audible gasps.

Dan Granger was the first to move to Ron after them and looked down his nose at the man. Ron turned to the man with a defiant glare,

"Leave."  
"Fuck you." He spat,

"I said, LEAVE!"

"Heh, you think I'm scared of you, tough guy?" A familiar object, to Hermione and her parent's eyes, appeared in his hand, "Standing there, looking down your nose at me, HAH! You think I'm not good enough for your daughter, right? I can make you and your bitch wife forget you even had a kid."

Dan threw a punch, the drunk man only saved by Hermione lunging forth and the two crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs,

"Daddy stop!" Hermione shrieked from the floor, looking up at her stunned fathers face with teary eyes, tears she was barely blinking away. She turned her gaze down to Ron under her and glared as much as she could, "Ron, we're leaving."

"I'm not going ANYWHERE, Hermione! You told me to be here, I'm being here!" Spittle flew past his lips as he yelled and surged to his feet, "Yeah, check it out inlaws. You're stuck with this!"

"if you think we're letting you marry her, think again!" Jane roared from off to the side, having had a few of their family members restrain her husband, and was met with some supporting murmurs that grew quickly into open rage and ridicule,

Ron did not take it well,

"Shut up, all of you!"  
"I didn't go through all that shit at Hogwarts to be talked down to by fucking smug Muggles who don't know the first thing about me!"

And here, he brandished his wand at all of them, twirling around in place with a nigh-murderous expression on his face,

"RON! Put that down!" Hermione near tackled him again, wrenching his wand from his hands and immediately hurling the thing through the open window she saw and out onto the front lawn. Ron was not halted in his outrage however,  
"NO! I'm sick of everyone judging me. You, my family, Harry, I'm not being looked down on by them too!" he heaved out heavy gasps which, as the room grew quiet, sounded oddly like sobs.

His cheeks were wet and red, Hermione cringed in guilt at the sight and found herself offering the following,

"R-Ron, I-I'm sorry for making you come. Let's just leave." She held out her hand, apology written across her entire form. The hand got slapped away and she was met with Ron's furious glare once again,  
"I said NO Hermione, I'm not going bloody anywhere!"

Hermione's aunt and uncle descended on Ron once again, Ron now left to shout and rant and rave at every one who disparaged him and almost swinging at everyone who came close as they tired to usher him out the front door. Hermion ended up shoved to the sidelines and pleading, to anyone who would hear, for the situation to be resolved peacefully.

But no one would hear, all of her pleas falling on deaf ears in the face of so many emotional outbursts in the full room.

So, Hermione did the only thing she knew to do when she couldn't handle a situation herself. Feeling much like the twelve year old girl who couldn't save herself from the troll…

She got Harry to help…

…

Harry was a recluse. Introverted and quiet (unless faced with animosity).

Thus, he had very few true friends, he loved that he could no longer count them on his two hands, but he didn't talk or open up to many people (despite what aura of charisma/charm/confidence/whatever was required of him to project when the Prophet was snooping around him would suggest) so he really felt it when his friends were at odds with one another. He was certain what he felt was not some sort of unique experience, he doubted anyone felt good knowing his friends didn't like each other or didn't get along.

But he just despised the feeling of pins and needles that settled over him as he sat at the kitchen table at the Burrow, across from his ex-girlfriend Ginny whilst shoulder-to-shoulder with the teensy teen Gabrielle Delacour. Desperate for the odd, passive aggressive comments to just cease.

He sighed as he looked over the parchment in front of him as both ladies shot one another sharp glares over the top of their cups, thinking Harry couldn't see. Ginny was tapping away at a typewriter across the table whilst Gabrielle had planted her elbows on the table and leaned onto her hands, pretending to look out of the window as Harry looked over her delicate cursive on the parchment in front of him,

"Everything okay with that Harry? You seem a little _unsatisfied_." Gabrielle was entirely unsubtle, though (if she were anything like her sister) that was purposeful.

"Knock it off Gabrielle." He sighed, refusing to match her sinful yet cherubic grin,

"Sorry, Professor." She hummed out a little huskily, watching where her tutors finger fell onto the page and listening attentively to his feedback and corrections.

He'd 'known' the girl next to him since she was eight, and now she was eighteen and taking advantage of the fact that her friend was a student teacher to get a cheeky bit of help on her Defence Against the Dark Arts homework. Her little crush on him, since they'd met, was adorably weird then and just plain… odd nowadays.

The Burrow is the hub of the Weasley family, so (away from school for the weekend) Gabrielle had tagged along with her sister and brother in-law as they went to showcase their little girl to Bill's mother. Running into Ginny who was visiting as well.

Do you know what the oddest thing was after his unceremonious break-up with the girl across the table? The fact that there were people angrier, more upset and disgusted at Ginny than he was. Including the little lady curious about the arithmancy theory behind wandless casting of shield charms,

" _Sweet Gabrielle has wanted to marry you since she was ten years old, so I'm afraid she already disliked Ginerva already."_ Fleur had apologetically explained as her sister was being chewed out (by their mother) in the other room, angry French rippling out from under the door, _"So imagine how she felt knowing that she'd actually broken your heart?"_

Uncomfortable conversations about how he didn't need people being offended on his behalf had led to an apology from the lady, but all she'd done is tone it down rather than stop. Leading to comments

"Thanks Harry, I'd have never been able to _finish_ this without your help."

A harsh click of a button on the typewriter made Harry flinch a little, as Ginny lost her focus on whatever she was righting to openly glare at the teen across the table,

"Wanna shut up, bird brain?"

"How about you? Or are you unable to stop talking unless your mouth is full?" She sneered, pretty face twisted cruelly at the redhead across the table, "Maybe we should call up one of your old teammates, hmm?"

The sound of the chair scraping across the floor was like being stabbed in the ears, leading to Harry moving to his feet to act as a barrier to Gin as she stepped around the table,

"Ginny, calm down."  
"Move Harry." She snapped, not looking at him but looking past him at the girl whose smirk he couldn't see,

"Yes, Harry, please move." Said girl pleaded lowly, bright blue eyes not leaving Ginerva's,

"Both of you shut up and grow up." Harry glared at them both, unimpressed and (only barely hiding it) just a little upset, "You're both adults, stop bloody antagonising each other."

It took a few minutes before Ginny sat back down, looking ready to cry but defiantly glaring at the girl all over again. Gabrielle, under Harry's watchful and disapproving eye, gathered up her homework and left the room.

He stepped out into the garden and sighed. Slumping onto the steps of the Burrow's porch and watching a few gnomes make off with a few of Mrs Weasley's tomatoes.

' _Today's a bad day._ ' He allowed himself the tiny shred of self-pity and then put his eyes to the watchon his wrist, _'About six hours till I need to pick up Teddy. Plenty of time to find SOMETHING to life my mood.'_

He rolled to his feet with a sour expression, wondering if he should go flying or convince Hagrid to race on their bikes again. Until he felt a burning sensation on the outside of his left thigh.

Uncomfortable, but not exactly painful, Harry idly wondered what on earth he even had his pocket that could be doing such a thing, gingerly sending probing fingers into his jeans to find out what it was.

And he pulled out a very familiar, fake Galleon with a message scrolling along its rims,

- **HARRY, I NEED YOU TO COME TO MY PARENTS HOUSE** -

He paused before-

' _Hermione?!'_ Eyes wide and thinking the worst, halfway into the frame of mind to Apparate… before the second message,

- **I NEED YOU TO GET RON** -

And boom, he was FAR less invested in responding to Hermione's whim. He did it though, hopping off the porch and Disapparating from the Burrow into, what he believed to be, an absolute disaster…

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

* * *

 _Thank you for all the support, guys! Nearly 10,000 views on the story and so many Followers, Favourites and Reviews._

 _Thanks guys! Hope you enjoyed the Chapter!_


	12. Chapter 12

**[START]**

 **The Get Together**

Chapter 12: The Confession

The engine cut out with a growl, Harry thankful that there was somewhere on this busy street for him to slide his bike into and park. Hands came up to unclip the helmet he had hastily shoved atop his head.

He tapped the handlebars just a little affectionately as he put his helmet under the seat. Steadying himself with a few slow breaths, Harry approached the Granger's front lawn. He was a few houses down, walking quick but reluctant to reach his destination.

He'd seen the shouting and gestures on the front lawn as he pulled up, but he'd been seen and recognised also. Leading to the approach being all the more uncomfortable as the shouting from when he'd arrived had stopped.

They were waiting for him, Hermione and her parents in the doorway of the house, Ron halfway down the front gardens path and a group of people he didn't recognise in the windows,

"OH, LOOK WHO IT IS?!" There was a small bout of hysterical laughter as Ron stabbed a thin finger at the approaching man, "I'm making an ass of myself, yeah? So, who shows up to spectate but Harry bloody Potter!"

Harry could not resist the involuntary urge to wince then sigh,

' _This is not going to go well.'_

"Hey Ron, let's get you out of here."

He approached slowly and reached out to take his arm. Until it got slapped away and he got a harsh shove from his friend, pushed back a bit whilst Ron nearly fell back on his ass,

"NO!" Ron snapped, Harry noticing his wand in his hands when he gestured it towards him threateningly, "I'm not going anywhere, I was invited here you ass."

Instinct and muscle memory had his arm snapping forward. He smacked the man's wand arm away from him before grabbing said mans wrist in an iron grip. With a flow of movement, he pinned Ron's wand arm behind his back and pulled until Ron shrieked with pain and dropped his wand.

Shoving the man away and plucking the wand from out of the air, Harry felt just a little more comfortable, before a nasty feeling of guilt settled heavily into his chest at the clear pain and distress on his friends face.

The man was quick to try and fight back, likely to steal back his wand, but Harry whipped out his own and held it steady between the man's eyes. Stopping him short in an instant.

"Look mate, you're making a scene, let's go." He lowered his wand only when Ron's stance relaxed a little.

In response, Ron snickered gleefully,

"I don't know why you're mad. Don't know why either of you are mad?!" He gestured back towards the house with his bottle, brown liquid sloshing out of it from the sharp movement, "I came, didn't I? Dressed up like you wanted me to! I did what I was told, showed up to this bloody place to get judged by the perfect little Granger family."  
"Ron, mate, let's get you home."  
"NAH! It's fine, I'm havin a great time." He smirked and spun around on the spot, "We've got Hermione's shitty parents and a house-full of snotty, toff twats and their fucking goblin kids."  
Hermione had to move quick to stop her aunt from moving past her at this point, her family levelled hateful glares at the man and a few at her also. She shrunk away from them all and felt a familiar pinprick in her eyes at their expressions,

"Yerr just mad that I got invited here and you didn't, aren't you?" Ron hissed to Harry with an acidic sneer, "Wah! Poor, poor Harry. No parents, dead godparents, relatives don't love him and the girl he loves is with his best mate. HAH!"

Harry's mouth clamped closed and his lips thinned, with Ron taking advantage of his silence to stagger over to him with a gleeful sneer,

"You know that's why I started dating her. Cause I knew you liked her. You don't deserve to have absolutely everything you want, you know. You can't just take everything from everyone else." The smirk dripped off of his face and he glowered, "You've always been after everything in my life. My family prefers you, the Auror corps actually cared when you left, and now you're here huh?"

"That's not true, Ron." He sighed out in a choked voice, making to grab at his arm again (a lot less empathetically than before) and he was met with the same slap and shove away. Harry did not move, quietly seething at the redhead's aggression as said man glared over at him,

"Let me tell you something, Boy Who Lived." Ron snarled out, derisive and vile as he took a sharp breath and bellowed, "HERMIONE'S MINE! YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!"

And he descended into giggles as he swayed and staggered a bit on the spot. Continuing in a soft tone as he stepped up to Harry again with a loop sneer on his lips,

"So, do us all a favour," Ron's sneer deepened as he rolled onto the tips of his toes and poured the remains of his beer into Harry's hair. All stood aghast as the brown liquid sloshed out of the bottle and rolled down Harry's face. "and piss off."

The world seemed to pause as all those watching (Harry, Ron, the Granger's, nosy neighbours) tried to contemplate what had occurred…

Harry's hand snapped out and grasped Ron's throat in a bruising grip, eyes alight in total fury as his whole body tremored. Ron instinctively made a grab at the arm that was holding his neck, before throwing a blow at Harry's face, grasping a clawing fingers hitting nothing but air as he made to tear out Harry's eyes.

"Hrrk, b-b-bastard."

"You've always been like this. A jealous, spiteful mess of a person. Too proud for his own good, when you haven't got a good reason to be proud."  
Ron's face burned up scarlet, though Harry wondered (only absently) if that was because he was holding him too tight,

"I'm not trying to steal anything from you, you twat. My life doesn't revolve around you." Harry leaned in a little when he spoke, levelling his friend with the coldest of glares before snapping out, "And the only reason your family is so harsh on you is because you are a fucking embarrassment."

Harry rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small phone, it dialled the number he needed with the press of a button and connected the instant he pressed the device to his ear,

"Mr Weasley, please help me with Ron. There are Muggle's watching so I can't just Disapparate."

"I'm already round the corner, Harry. I'll be with you in a second."

And, as promised, a familiar red headed man (though more patches of grey were showing with each passing day) pulled up in a sky blue Ford Anglia with an unreadable expression on his face. Slipping out of the drivers side and leaving the vehicle running in the road as he jogged over.

He surveyed the scene with tired hazel eyes, meeting his sons own with a heavily disappointed gaze that clearly made the younger man all the more furious,

"Harry, you need to let go of him." Arthur's quiet, almost defeated, request.

It took a firmer insistence of that order before Harry loosened his grip, his friend staggering back very red in the face. Coughs painfully travelling up and out of the throat he gingerly massaged.

"Here." Gruff and clipped, handing the man Ron's wand without taking his eyes off his 'best friend'. To onlookers, it truly looked like either of them would quickly lunge onto the other and exchange blows any second now.

But the day wouldn't end THAT climatically.

A quiet and subtle compulsion from the tip of Arthur's wand (making Harry feel just a little stupid for not thinking to do so himself) had Ron just a little more docile, making him cooperative enough to get into the car with his embarrassed and infuriated father. Leaving Harry to stand drenched in the Granger's front garden whilst the family itself watched on from the windows and porch.

Hermione eventually approached, cautious (like approaching a wounded animal) with big brown eyes and a sorrowful expression,

"H-harry." He hadn't reacted to her approach, eyes firmly on the road where the Weasley's car had been. A sigh exploded past his formerly closed lips before he shook his head, liquid flicking about because of it,  
"That could have gone better." He huffed a little, rolling his shoulders back until he heard a satisfying click and then removing his glasses to wipe off a bit of the booze that had dropped on to them,

"I'm… I'm sorry."  
"Don't worry about it." He shook his head again and offered her a lopsided, cheeky little grin that didn't quite convince his friend in its attempt at sincerity, "Please, it's not like having a drink poured on me is the worst thing that's ever happened."

She didn't laugh with him, she saw the smile didn't reach his eyes and the laugh was just a little hollow. Her parents, and a few brave stragglers of their family, approached before she could make any sort of comment,

"Ah, Mr and Mrs Granger." He bowed at the waist, a practice Hermione knew he had picked up from the purebloods at the ministry (of all people), "I'm sorry for Ron's actions."

"You're not his father, Harry, you don't need to apologize for him." It was Hermione's mother who spoke first, a pause having settled between them before she sneered out her reply, "He's a man, I expect him to apologize himself."  
"It's lovely to see you again, dear. Dan and Jane will be fine." Her husband chipped in, offering a hand to shake and expressing some gratitude in the situation being dealt with, "I have to say though, you got here quick."

There was a bit of a knowing glint in the man and woman's eyes, the humour helping Harry's mood lighten, if only a little,  
"Hopefully I don't get a ticket, right?" he snickered a bit before shrugging, "Hermione asked me to help her out, so I did."  
Harry turned to his friend with a grin that made her far more comfortable. It was smaller but genuine this time,

"I was helping Gabrielle with her homework, so I doubt she'll be happy with you when you see her next."

Her own little chuckle was involuntary, and she felt a little squirming feeling of warmth niggle away in her stomach at the way his grin broadened in the face of her own.

She silently scoffed,

' _Always so smug when he gets me to laugh.'_ She smirked and sighed, folding her arms and hitting him with a faux, unimpressed glare.

All the more thankful that she had her Harry in her life.

" _HERMIONE'S MINE, YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!"_

Yeah, _her_ Harry.

* * *

 **[TO BE CONTINUED]**

 _Boom, double upload!_

 _If any of you care, I actually wrote this chapter before the last one._

 _I hope you enjoyed Ron making a total ass of himself and I'll see you next chapter._

 _Hope you're invested in seeing the fallout!_


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